A little over a month ago Rick Hansen's 25th Anniversary Relay concluded in Vancouver, and while the silver medallion ended its journey across our country with help of 7,000 Difference Makers the journey has really just begun. Flipping the "Man In Motion" title that Rick has held for two and a half decades and turning it into "Many In Motion", his legacy will not only be the hundreds of millions of dollars his foundation has raised in order to help fund spinal cord injury research and awareness, but the inspiration that he's given the rest of us to make a difference in our own ways.
After Rick concluded the relay at Terry Fox Plaza (I wrote about it HERE) he and a few thousand supporters headed to the PNE Forum for a show called "Rick Hansen: A Concert For Heroes". Hosted by TSN’s Michael Landsberg and E!’s Leah Miller, it boasted a musical lineup including Sarah McLachlan, Shane Koyczan (!), Jann Arden, the Canadian Tenors and more, and included poignant speeches by the likes of David Suzuki, Craig Kielburger from Free The Children and others. It was a super emotional finale that Rick put an exclamation point on by delivering possibly the best speech I have ever heard in my lifetime. Tune in to CTV tonight at 7PM (info HERE) for the broadcast premiere of the show, if for nothing else then for Rick's speech which was more affective than any TED talk I've ever seen.
Enjoy some of Brice Ferré's photos of the concert that he shot for us below and be sure to tune in to CTV tonight and catch it for yourself.
Rick, his wife and his daughter enjoy the show from the front row
Sarah McLachlan not only sung some songs, but spoke on Rick and his work
Dance act!
The Canadian Tenors sung Man In Motion!
Shane Koyczan's poem he wrote and performer for Rick was of the calibre as the chill-inducing one he performed during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics
The Dude, Doctor David Suzuki
Freestyle skier Josh Dueck told the audience about how he Rick inspired him to be the first person in a wheelchair to do a backflip on skis. So awesome.
I asked Rick what he was going to do to relax before jumping into his next big project and he told me he was planning on going fishing in the Fraser river as soon as possible. Now that's my kind of hero right there.
